This invention relates generally to animated toys and more particularly to dolls and figures that are mechanically animated to simulate movements.
Toy dancing figures are well known in the art and have employed many various aesthetic novelty designs, from flowers (U.S. Pat. No. 5,056,249) and soda cans to fish (U.S. Pat. No. 4,775,351). However, these lack the innovation to create complex animated movements needed for dolls and for various other standing figures.
While the prior art is not devoid of dancing dolls, toys or other figures, there are disadvantages in the prior art and areas that need improvement. For instance, one disadvantage that exists is most animated figures employ reciprocating motors to the direction of the movement. When employing reciprocating motors to change the direction of the movement, the figures and especially the mechanics exhibit extreme wear and tear caused by the constant direction change.
Another disadvantage is that most of the dolls are fixed on a base in order to provide stability, lacking a more lifelike appearance that free-standing figures provide. These non-free standing figures typically include mechanisms in the base and are often comprised of moveable rods that travel through the legs that create or control the movements of the figure. These dancing toys may be represented in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,163,992; 6,126,508; 5,601,471; and 5,273,479. Other non-free standing figures incorporate the mechanisms in the upper or lower torso, but since this type of arrangement causes the figure to be top-heavy, the figures rely on the base to keep the figures upright. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,261,148 discloses a twisting figure; U.S. Pat. No. 6,071,170 discloses a figure that vibrates and moves side to side; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,735,726 illustrates an animated figure that stands and sits.
While free-standing animated dolls are present in the art, these dolls limit the movement to the legs or reduce the speed or rate of animation so the figures do not fall. As such these dolls typically only walk, illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,820,441; tap dance, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,147,238; or sway from one side to another, shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,911,617.
Another interesting disclosure is found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,176,560, which discloses a free-standing dancing doll. While the mechanism that powers the movement is situated in the torso of the doll, rods are used to transfer the movement to the legs. This will increase the instability of the doll, which will require the speed of the movement to reduce.
As such there exists a need to improve upon the prior art without the disadvantages outlined above.
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided in one embodiment a twisting figure that includes a head and body portion having a pair of arms and a lower leg section separately extending therefrom. The figure also has a housing formed in the body portion that contains a motor secured between upper and lower horizontal plates. The horizontal plates are further pivotally secured to the lower leg section. The housing contains a combo gear secured to the upper horizontal plate and in communication with the motor. The combo gear is arranged to alternately push against a bumper, which is secured through the lower horizontal plate to the lower leg section. As such when the combo gear alternately pushes against the bumper, the pair of horizontal plates pivots back and forth along a horizontal plane causing the body portion to move therewith. The figure may also include a worm gear in communication with the motor. The worm gear is meshed to a pair of arm drive gears that are separately in communication with one of the arms, such that when the arm drive gears rotate the pair of arms move upwardly or downwardly.
The figure may further include a slider gear in communication with the motor and positioned to engage and rotate the combo gear only when the motor is operating in a forward direction. It is important to note that a reciprocating motor does still not control the twisting of the body and it is used such that the doll may move its arms independently of the twisting movement. The figure may also include a pair of shoes attached to the lower leg section and a pair of freely rotatable rollers attached under the shoes, such that legs may move when the body twists. In addition thereto, the figure may also include a speaker that emits pre-programmed sounds and music.
Numerous other advantages and features of the invention will become readily apparent from the following detailed description of the invention and the embodiments thereof, from the claims, and from the accompanying drawings.